Perilous Times and Climate Change
Australia: $5 million dollar Flood-proof road destroyed in record deluge
By Cassie White
A $5 million Brisbane road which was recently upgraded to prevent
flooding has been destroyed by the recent heavy rainfall which has
flooded waterways, roads and homes.
Residents at Brookfield in the city's west had warned that the Rafting
Ground Road upgrade would not be suitable for the area and say they
raised those concerns with Brisbane City Council before it closed the
road for eight months for upgrades.
All that work was swept away in the early hours of Monday morning as
Brisbane was pounded by record October rains which caused flash
flooding across the city's north and west.
Paul Moon had some of his land resumed for the new road, which he says
has now been left in pieces.
"There were discussions with council and we had some reservations when
we saw how it was happening," he said.
"They wanted to raise the creek crossing that was there, supposedly to
make it more of an all-weather crossing.
"[But] we've had long periods of drought so haven't had these volumes
of water.
"Water has now actually flowed onto the side of the road and lifted the
bitumen. It was waving like a ribbon in the water; just floating up and
down.
"It's a mess; the bitumen has all been lifted and some of it has
physically been lifted up and moved across a metre or so. It's rippled
like waves and some edges are torn off - you wouldn't want to drive on
it.
"It's going to need major repairs because they're going to have to go
back to the foundations to make sure. All that bitumen will have to be
ripped up and make sure all the foundations are sound and then it'll
need to be reconstructed again."
But council says Rafting Ground Road was upgraded to the Q2 flood level
- which means a level of flooding which can be expected every two years
- and was not meant to prevent the extreme level of flooding which has
occurred in the past few days.
Local councillor Margaret de Wit says council will keep local residents
informed about repairs and recommends they take alternative routes in
the meantime.
"This upgrade was necessary to deal with the smaller floods that were
cutting the road off almost every time it rained," she said.
"However the unfortunate reality is, Brisbane's built on a flood plain.
"And when extreme storms like this one hit we have to accept there may
be some flood damage. The important thing is we're already out there
trying to get this road open as quickly as possible."
A council spokesman says officers are undertaking a full inspection of
the road today to determine the full extent of the damage now that
conditions are easing.
He says until then it is difficult to determine the exact cause of the
damage and how long it will take to fix.